How Should the Cowboys Approach the Season If They Fall to 1-3?
The season might only be four weeks underway; however, the Cowboys find themselves in a seemingly worrisome position if they lose their next game versus the Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys currently sit at 1-2 as they head into Week Four, where they are six and a half point underdogs. Frankly, this line is somewhat generous considering their situation. Dallas will head into this game without their star player, CeeDee Lamb, who suffered an injury early in a disappointing loss to Chicago in Week Three. Additionally, they are facing one of the worst passing defenses in the NFL, which allowed Caleb Williams to have the best game of his young career. Despite the wishes of many Cowboys fans for a win, the likely outcome will be a loss, and Dallas will have a measly 1-3 to start the season. With one of their worst starts in recent memory, how should the Cowboys approach the rest of the season?
Even with a 1-3 start and what looks to be a depleted defense, it is too early to call it a year for this Dallas roster. The next two weeks, the Cowboys play two teams that are favorable matchups for them: the New York Jets and the Carolina Panthers. The loss to Chicago hurt; however, bouncing back to 3-3 entering their week seven matchup against the Washington Commanders is a very reasonable outcome for this Dallas team. Not to mention the return of key players in the next month with Cooper Beebe, Shavon Revel, Tyler Booker, and the aforementioned Lamb, Dallas has hope that their top-end roster can win them games.
The Cowboys might be tempted to view their upcoming games against New York and Carolina as guaranteed victories; however, as is often emphasized each season, the NFL is an any-given-Sunday league, and no wins can be taken for granted. Should the Cowboys fail to win one of those games, the Dallas front office may consider two possible outcomes. One is to make a trade with one of the picks from the Micah Parsons trade, which Jerry Jones has mentioned time and time again in his pressers; however, given that Dallas is not a trade away from being Super Bowl or deep playoff run-bound, they will probably avoid making a trade. The second option, which a lot of Dallas fans have internally decided to do, is to look forward to the draft season early, which is disappointing. The Cowboys have the opportunity to erase these concerns with an unexpected victory against Green Bay. However, given that a loss seems more likely, they need to capitalize on their matches against weaker opponents to keep their season alive.
